Invisible String [t. s]

From Exhile

August 17th, 1922.
Paris, France.
Ministry of Magic.

  Three months. It's been three months in which many dark wizards that caused havoc in the name of Grindelwald. In Paris, many acolytes managed to escape while others were captured and brought to justice. Which was good, the only bad part was the amount of paperwork that came afterwards.

  Amélie found herself in her office. A cigarette consuming itself on an ashtray to the left, an empty glass of whiskey on her desk to her right, her fingers stained with blue ink, the quill moving onto the parchment as she explained with detail how her Aurors and herself managed to successfully break a small rally in Lille. It was tough to write it, let alone being there after all these years. Flashbacks of the war didn't have mercy on bombing her memory. She was signing the paper when a knock on the door called her attention.

"Entrer." She said and the door opened. She expected to find Miss Dupont about to wish her a good night, perhaps François about to ask her if she'd like to get a victory drink, but it was neither of them. Instead it was..."Monsieur Cotillard." Antoine Cotillard, the Minister of Magic, her boss. She stood up and opened her mouth to apologise for some inexistent reason when he smiled and shook his head, as if he knew.

"Bonne nuit, Amélie." He greeted.

"Bonne nuit, Monsieur." He closed the door behind him. "What can I do for you?" He shrugged.

"I need to talk to you." She nodded.

"Oh, alright. Please." She pointed at the chair that's opposite from hers with a smile that he returned as he approached the seat. He sat down before her and she sat too. "What is it?"

"Well-" He saw the glass and the cigar on the desk. "Back to your old habits?" She frowned as he pointed at the objects.

"It was a stressful day. And I'm not back at it." He arched an eyebrow. "Seriously, Antoine." He sighed. "Do you want one?"

"A cigarette? No, thank you. Those things are hideous." She smiled.

"I meant a whiskey."

"Well, in that case, yes. Make it double." She laughed and he chuckled. She moved to the bookshelf, opened one of the cabinets on the bottom, took out a glass and the bottle of whiskey. She proceeded to pour the beverage on his glass and then into her own. "Merci beaucoup." He said when she had handed the glass over, Amélie nodded.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm concerned about you, Élie." She sighed and looked through the opened window at the night sky.

"We agreed you didn't have to."

"I agreed with you that I didn't have to. However, I promised your mother I'd look after you, hence me being concerned either way." She shook her head. Antoine and Amélie's mother were childhood friends. He has been working on this line of duty for ages now and, when he found out Angelique's daughter had entered the Auror Academy, he promised her he'd look after her. Élie has never liked it, though.

When you've got someone powerful in your corner, people tend to believe and spread the rumour of them giving you a hand and some extra help to get into the position you might be at the moment. When Amélie started working at the Ministry, she ascended quickly in the hierarchy. People found out her mother was friends with Antoine, that he's the child's godfather, and assumed he had been helping her despite Amélie's sweat, tears, and blood, and hard work been given in exchange of her titles. Some elected to ignore that and believe she just had an easy way in. Or called her a whore for being better than them.